Bridges form one of the most critical piece of our transportation infrastructure. Ensuring their safety and stability is essential, especially as they continue to age and endure ever-increasing loads. Scour, collisions, settlement and construction activities can all create scenarios where a bridge can be quickly and unexpectedly damaged. SENSR technology is specifically designed to help you manage these difficult challenges by keeping you continuously aware of conditions at the bridge site.

Keep an Eye on Nearby Construction

Blasting, pavement breaking, rock drilling, pile driving and other factors from adjacent construction projects can affect the stability of your bridge’s substructure. Meanwhile, material and equipment stationed on a bridge during a construction project can cause unique loading situations that impart deformations, rotations and displacements. Not only do SENSR monitoring solutions let you know when problems arise from these disturbances, they often detect changes before permanent damage occurs.

Evaluate for Signs of Scour

Scour from streams, rivers and tides removes material from around your piers, undermining their ability to support loads. SENSR continuously monitors your piers for signs of instability or misalignment. You’ll know when scour pockets are forming long before you’d be able to spot their influence with the unaided eye. You can quickly and easily assess whether it’s safe to operate during high flow events.

Monitor Settling and Subsidence

Over time, what was once stable soil support conditions can deteriorate and increase the likelihood that piers will settle. For these delicate bridges, it’s often wise to switch from periodic surveys to a continuous monitoring system. SENSR uses only a few strategically placed sensors to constantly report local conditions.

Detect Collisions

When impacts to your bridges happen, SENSR provides immediate notifications so you can determine if crews are needed onsite – you’ll never miss another unreported incident. With SENSR data in hand, you can make smart decisions about whether to keep the bridge in service or to deploy crews to survey the damage.

Assess Bridges From Virtually Anywhere

While nothing can replace the important job of inspectors, their time on a bridge is limited. As a result, they typically assess bridge behaving by looking for signs of damage like missing hardware, crack and misalignment. SENSR solutions can provide inspectors with another valuable tool to use. Our portable monitoring system records how bridge elements behave over time so inspectors can better identify poor behavior before the bridge incurs damage.

A bridge over the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, MS, sustained two barge strikes that went unreported by barge operators. Luckily, SENSRsi software provided the bridge operator insight into the situation.Read the Vicksburg Bridge Strike case study.